Ace Hotel Founder Dead at 47

Alex Calderwood, who founded the Ace Hotel empire, died Thursday, the hotel said in a blog post on Friday.

“Alex was our teacher, mentor, guru and most importantly our dear friend. We will miss him,” the hotel said in the post.

He was 47 years old, and the cause of death wasn’t given. The hotel declined to comment.

Mr. Calderwood was born in Seattle and jumpstarted his career by opening hip barbershops. Along the way, he caught the eye of hotelier Andre Balazs and helped to open the first Standard Hotel in Los Angeles.

The first Ace Hotel opened in Seattle in 1999. Since then, others have opened in Palm Springs, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and in 2009, New York’s Flatiron District. Known for their young patrons, trendy cafes and lobby DJs, the hotels became destinations for travelers as well as local residents, and the lobbies are rarely empty. In a 2012 Wall Street Journal article, New Yorkers offered up a few reasons for why they escape to the Ace: It’s less crowded than Starbucks, they said, and looks like their dream living room.

In October, the Ace Hotel opened its first location outside the U.S., in Shoreditch, a hip neighborhood in East London.

Corrections & Amplifications: Alex Calderwood was 47 when he died. An earlier version of this article said he was 45.